Jersey one-ups Alaska: A toll bridge to nowhere (update)

(Star-Ledger file) Scudder Falls Bridge: It's up to the task of handling the traffic.

Update: I attended the press conference yesterday in Trenton on this bridge - and it's even worse than I imagined.

The two bridges at the spot are in perfectly fine shape and can carry two lanes of traffic each.

If there is a need for more capacity, which remains to be proven, then the solution would be to simply add one more bridge, perhaps of three lanes.

The other two could be used in one direction, with the three-lane bridge in use in the other.

That could be done without adding any tolls at all, based on the tolls already collected on other bridges.

But destroying the current bridges would be the same as if the ARC project included plans to destroy the current rail tunnels.

Chris Christie has yet to take a stand on this boondooggle. But based on his prior stand on ARC as well as his stand on out-of-control authorities, he has no choice if he wants to maintain any credibility.

The original column begins here:

Back in 2006, Americans learned that the federal government was going to pay most of the cost of a $398 million project to provide road access to an island in Alaska with just 50 people living on it.

But the Bridge to Nowhere has nothing on “the Washington Double Crossing.”

That’s the label the Sierra Club’s Jeff Tittel has placed on the plan to replace the free Scudder Falls Bridge just north of Trenton with a massive toll bridge bearing a price tag rivaling that of the Alaska boondoggle.

It was Tittel who came up with the “Tunnel to Macy’s Basement” label that came to symbolize the abortive ARC rail project. But as boondoggles go, this plan is even worse than either ARC or that Alaska project, he said.

“This is the bridge to beyond nowhere,” Tittel said. “They want to build a giant bridge on a road that will soon be underutilized.”

That road is Interstate 95. The original plans for I-95 had it continuing north from the Trenton area to form the main corridor on the East Coast. But those plans were canceled decades ago and I-95 now peters out a few miles after entering New Jersey.

The folks at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are planning to do something about that. They want to connect I-95 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike about 10 miles south of Scudder Falls. When that project is completed in 2017, it will connect to the newly widened New Jersey Turnpike.

At that point, the freeway crossing the Scudder Falls bridge will be redesignated Interstate 195. The current bridge can handle that traffic easily, said Ed Smith, who serves on the 10-member commission.

“We’re going to spend a third of a billion dollars to demolish an existing structure that, as recently as 2010, was found to be in satisfactory condition for all legal loads?” asked Smith, who is a former aide to state Sen. Mike Doherty, a Republican from Warren County.

Smith is the sole member of the commission opposing the plan to build the nine-lane bridge feeding into a four-lane highway. But he’s finding a lot of allies on this side of the river. At a news conference scheduled for this afternoon at the Statehouse, the plan will be opposed by politicians from the left, right and center.

Tittel will be joined by Doherty, who also joined with him in opposing ARC. Also there will be state Sen. Shirley Turner, a Democrat whose district includes both the Washington’s Crossing area and downtown Trenton.

(Star-Ledger File Photo)State Sen. Shirley Turner: Bridge proposal would bring more tolls and more traffic jams to her district.

“I can see what will happen if they are successful in putting this toll bridge in place,” Turner said yesterday. “They’re going to put more traffic into a city already congested.”

The free bridges in Trenton, already jammed, would face even more backups as drivers try to avoid the new tolls, she said. And then there’s the impact those tolls would have on her constituents, Turner said.

“The only reason they want to build this bridge is to put a toll on there,” she said.

“I find it appalling they find any excuse to pick the pockets of working people.”

Even more appalling is the way in which the commission plans to collect that toll, Smith said. The plan calls for “cashless tolling.” If you don’t have E-ZPass, your license plate will be scanned. You’ll be sent a bill in the mail for the toll, plus a hefty handling fee. You could end up paying $5 or more to cross a bridge that’s now free.

“I am adamantly opposed to tolling that does not permit the individual to use cash,” Smith said. “Cash is still legal tender for all transactions. It says so on the dollar bill.”

It does indeed. But this cashless tolling plan is part of a scheme to force every driver to have a transponder. The schemers hope to expand tolls to many roads and bridges that are free, creating a new source of fun and funding for the pols.

So if you think that Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska was bad, think about this: At least that bridge would have gotten you to nowhere for free.

ALSO NOTE: This article on the press conference and the bridge commission director's comments:

Frank G. McCartney, the commission’s executive director, said Thursday afternoon that “it’s very disheartening that some people would put the lives and safety of motorists at risk by pursuing a political agenda with respect to this project.”

Two things:

1. If this overpaid political hack cared the least bit about the safety of motorists he would have done something about that dangerous on-ramp on the Jersey side years ago.

2. And furthermore, why is he contradicting the elected officials? The commission exists to carry out the will of the bodies that created it, the legislatures of both states. He is a subordinate to senators Mike Doherty, Shirley Turner et al. He should shut up and listen to their criticisms and start coming up with a plan to serve the needs of the public, not the political hacks.